Letter to Baby #3

Dear Baby Girl,

What can I say, a number of months ago now, you took us completely by surprise when you showed up in my belly! I thought that our family might be complete with the 4 of us, but as the months of this pregnancy went by, it became clear that there was a space waiting for a sweet little one to fill it.  All of us are very excited to meet you! Morgan is convinced that you are going to look just like Mikayla, but I'm sure you're going to have a look and personality all your own, just like each of your sisters. Please don't forget that while I know you'll be hungry in the middle of the night for a while, your mommy really needs her sleep, so try your best to sleep mostly at night. We will all get along much better if Mommy isn't a zombie during the day.

I guess I should tell you a little about this pregnancy and your life in my belly. Well, my first clue that you were in there was the massive amount of heartburn that I was having. I actually had this realization while your daddy and I were out on a date at Chili's. Perhaps it was this that made me crave Chili's cajun shrimp pasta almost the entire pregnancy. Unlike when I was pregnant with your sisters, I did not lose any weight at the beginning of the pregnancy. Instead, I was almost immediately starving with you!  I guess in hind sight it is a good thing I didn't get sick with you because having your sisters to run after would have been really hard...but I was rather looking forward to losing a few pounds in the beginning! Oh well. For a long time, hamburgers sounded like the worst things in the world...until about a month ago when all of a sudden I decided that hamburgers were amazing! I have craved a number of things this pregnancy, from Togos turkey sandwiches (with avocado of course) to funnel cake. With Morgan, I would put off my cravings for a month or so before finally indulging in them. With Mikayla, I think I actually only got to eat what I was craving a few times since your daddy didn't want me to eat too badly. For you, I basically got to eat what I wanted when I wanted....I'm not sure why, but your daddy actually let me. He was really great to me this whole pregnancy. He even let me take naps and sleep in, too. One thing that was crazy this time was what I like to call "pregnancy narcolepsy." I could pass out mid sentence...even mid word. Thank goodness your daddy can work from home a lot because it allowed me to actually take a nap some of the time during the day! When Morgan started school in the fall, he even took her to school and picked her up a lot so that I could rest. It is so nice to feel like you have a partner in this...not that he can actually grow you in his belly (that is my job and I'm happy and proud to do it) but he really does help out in any way that he can. I'm now 36 weeks and 4 days along and it is almost time to meet you. I have everything all washed and ready for you whenever you decide to come along. It would be incredibly convenient if you came on Thanksgiving weekend since your Mimi, Papa, and Auntie Maddie will be here already, but if you aren't quite done baking, I completely understand. Any Friday after that would work out just fine..that way, they can make their way back up here to meet you! Oh, and if you could come out relatively easily, that would be great. Morgan's delivery was amazingly easy, but Mikayla's was a bit of a nightmare, so I'm a little scared of how this one is going to go. Either way, I am really so excited to meet you and to have you become a part of this family. I will be sad when you leave my belly because I love feeling you move around in there...and watching you move across my belly. It is the most amazing feeling and I will miss it  so much. I really do love being pregnant and I loved being pregnant with you. But it is almost time for you to take your place in our family of 5, and we're all waiting to welcome you with open arms. We love you already, with all our hearts, and can't wait to hold you.

Love,
Mommy

My first two babies

Alright, well as we get ready to welcome a new baby into this world, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the two babies that are already here and share a little bit about them.

Mikayla, at 2 years and 4 months old, is always full of life. She is so incredibly sweet. Every morning when I go in her crib to get her, I am greeted by a completely naked baby (since she refuses to keep on her diaper after she wakes up from sleep or a nap) who always says "good morning, mama!" She has catch phrases like "hello, it's me!" "wait a minute," "i gumpy annie" (I'm grumpy and angry...said with a pouty face and crossed arms,) and " hey, that's Puhkayla's!" She also likes to say "thank you, y-yell come (you're welcome.)"She gives the biggest hugs in the whole world and squeezes you so tight, I love it. She has taken a liking to a  Biscuit book where he goes for a walk and then in the end finds Grandpa in the grocery store. She wants to be read this book, as many times as we're willing to read it, every bed and naptime. (Tonight big sister read it to her, and it was incredibly sweet b/c Mikayla had her smiling face pressed up against the bars on the crib so she could see the pictures while Morgan read!) Also, at bedtime, she has to have at least 2 blankets, one must be pink with the silk on one side and the edges, both brown and white puppies from build a bear, and many other animals or barbies as well that tend to rotate nightly. She is so particular and will NOT sleep without everything being just so. Oh, and just this week she bit off the end of her pacifier (which she only used at naptime) so she has essentially solved out pacifier predicament by breaking the one that we had for her. She now either naps without it, or hangs out in her crib for an hour or so talking while whoever is home gets some downtime! While in the first year or so of life, she had no love loss for the tv, she is now obsessed with it! Her favorite movies are Tinker Bell and any of the princess movies, (but especially Tangled and The Little Mermaid.) She LOVES to dress up, especially in a pink pettiskirt that we have in the dress up bin downstairs. She is absolutely obsessed and will usually insist on putting on that skirt immediately after waking up. She dances around the living room to the music on one of her toys....while wearing her skirt, of course. (We REALLY need to get her in dance!) She is incredibly sweet, like we said, but she is also  a master manipulator. She knows exactly where to push both Mommy and Daddy so that we break and do what she wants. I kid you not, this girl is WAY too smart for the likes of us. I can only hope that she takes it easy on us in her teen years b/c if not, we are in serious trouble!

Now onto my sweet Morgan. My little monk, where to even begin! You are the sweetest child, the absolute sweetest. Lately, you have taken to telling me how beautiful I look, which let me tell you, means the world to me these days since I have become the size of a house. You run out from your class to give me a hug and kiss after you put your backpack down in your class, even though you already did but forgot! You talk to your baby sister Molly (who isn't even here yet) like she is an old friend and give her hugs and kisses every day. You hug Mikayla every day when you get out of school and pick her up and swing her around and absolutely make her day (since she misses you like crazy when you're gone.) You even share your candy and toys with her, which I know at this point in time is a HUGE deal to you, and something I really love about you. You genuinely care about those around you and that feeling seems to rub off on others as well. EVERYONE in Kindergarten says hi to you when we walk down the halls...even those kids in the other classes. They all know you  by name, which I think is no small feat being that there are about 130 kindergartners at your school right now. This also might be because you are the silliest little girl I have ever met! You make up jokes and sing songs with sillier lyrics than the ones they originally were written with. Often you include the word "butt" in these songs b/c apparently in Kindergarten this word is the most hilarious word to use in any situation. Whatever the words, you really love singing and we love to listen to all of your songs. You are so incredibly smart you amaze me! You are sounding out all of these words and you actually get close to spelling most of them right! You've actually already written out a Christmas list...even though you can't read some of it now b/c you forgot what it was you wanted! (my beautiful space cadet!) I can't wait to take you to see Santa so you can read it to him this year. You are reading. Actually READING so many words now, you can actually sit and read books to yourself, and to your sister. Listening to you read really makes me so happy and proud of how far you've come. The thing is, you love reading, too, always have. You used to curl up on my lap as a baby and throw books in my face and we'd read all day. ALL DAY! I miss those days. :( While I work with you mostly on reading and writing, your daddy works with you on math (being that he is in math right now in school, he takes it very seriously and wants you to as well!) We're both so proud of you since you're able to add and subtract things now...not always perfectly, but you're getting so good at it, better every day! You also enjoy spending your "free time" with Daddy, playing his computer games. One is a spy one that I'm not entirely sure is age appropriate for you, but your Dad insists it is fine, and you love it. You actually sit there and write out directions for him to follow in his game and you number them.

Anyway, I love you both more than words, and while you're both as different as night and day, you are sisters and the best of friends. You miss each other when one is napping or at school, you get upset if you don't get to say good night to each other, and you both just love to be together. I always wanted a sister who was close to my age growing up, so I hope that you two, and your new baby sister, will continue to love each other and be close as you grow up. I love you so much and can't wait to watch you as you grow....but please don't grow up too fast!

Morgan's First Soccer Team

In August this year, we started Morgan in soccer. It was really very important to me that she at least give one sport a shot as a kid, just to see if she liked it and to give her that experience. I always liked playing soccer as a kid, and more than that, I always liked that my parents gave me the chance to experience all kinds of different things like dance, gymnastics, soccer, tee-ball, tennis, swimming, and ice skating. I wish that I could say that I could give my kids the chance to try all of these things, but I know that with having three kids and one income, there is no way I'm going to be able to. I really hope that I can at least give them each a shot at a few of these things so that they can each find something they really like. Anyway, at first, Morgan was having a hard time because everyone on her team had played soccer before and most of them were actually in 1st grade. I'm telling you, some of the kids on this team were unbelievably good! Morgan was a little upset after the first game because she didn't understand it, which made me sad, but after that, she really made the effort to learn the game. She learned so much and got so much better over the course of the season. By the end of the season she was actually running with the ball  (actually kicked it a few times) and played a great goalie in one game, too! I really couldn't be more proud of her. 

Here are pictures from her first game. 

This is her practicing before the game...the only time she touched the ball. 

Playing around with one of her teammates. 

Snack time!

Ahhhh yes, and this is a shot from the actual game! Summer saults on the field!

Even though she wasn't quite sure what was going on in the game, she still had a good time. :)

Then right before the end of the season, she got to play goalie. She stopped both of the goal attempts that got near her! She was really so good! 

Practicing with her teammates and getting some pointers from the coach.

Having a little dance-y moment before the game started. 

She had a song and dance that she was doing while the ball was down on the other end of the field. It was quite entertaining. 

My little goalie! This was by far her favorite game of the season, and I was so proud of her! 

And now to the last game...

Blue hair for the last game of the season!

Go Smurfettes! 

Notice we're now running, not doing summersaults. 

This was the other team's star player, and that is Morgan about to run her  out of bounds. Although I don't think it was intentional at all, I was still so proud of her, and she was pretty proud of herself, too! 

After game snack...but of course, she wouldn't look at me!

The Smurfettes! They were undefeated the whole season! So proud of all these girls, but especially my little monk.  I was so proud of how she kept at it and really improved so much. 

One last hands in. 

My little soccer player!

And after the season is over, of course, there must be a pizza party and trophy night! 

Morgan and her little friend, Emma. These two are seriously two peas in a pod.....two very crazy peas in a pod! 

See what I mean? They were hilarious and bouncing off the walls all night! 

Had to get some Smurfette cookies made for the party! 

The adorable "trumphies," as Morgan calls them. 

Could NOT get her to smile at me, but this is her getting her trophy and her cookie from Coach Frank (left) and Coach Terry (right.) 

The Smurfettes, Morgan's first soccer team. A great experience for her. 

So excited, she now has two trophies: this one and one from her dance recital last year.

You knew there had to be cake! 

Our Month of Halloween!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and month of October! Our month of Halloween kicked off that first week when we "Booed" some of our friends. It was so much fun for the kids and I to try to be sneaky and leave some holiday treats on their doorsteps. (Since I actually made the caramel corn, I decided to tell the people that it was us dropping off the treats so that they didn't think someone random was trying to poison their family!)

Next up was a trip with our playgroup to Del Osso Farm for some pumpkin patch fun! It was just Mikayla and I this morning, so we just picked out a couple tiny pumpkins so that Morgan could join in the pumpkin picking fun later! 

At first she was trying to pick up all the pumpkins, but quickly realized that they were far too heavy.  So instead, she just went around giving them hugs.....

...and sitting on them! 

Is she seriously almost 3 feet tall!?!? Where does the time go!

My sweet, beautiful girl! 

She was very happy to pick out the bestest little pumpkins to take home. 

On our second trip to Del Osso, we took Morgan and Daddy with us so that we could all do some pumpkin picking, jumping in pumpkin inflatables for the kids and ride on a tractor ride through the corn stalks...but, since I had a baby in the belly, they said I couldn't go on the ride, so I waited while they went. We were going to do all the fun stuff like the petting zoo, the train ride, the corn maze, etc. but the kids were both just so excited to pick a pumpkin, we decided to save the money and just pick out two of the biggest pumpkins we could find!

If only that hair wasn't in her face this picture would have been perfect! So pretty. 

Both of my babies sitting on the pumpkins. 

She was sitting there telling us about her requirements for what makes the perfect pumpkin. She found this one and was all about it being the most perfect pumpkin ever...then she went to pick it up and put it in the wheel barrow, made this super cute face, and changed her mind! haha

Daddy and the girls on the tractor ride. 

Pumpkin gut fingers!

Hard at work with Daddy. 

The pumpkin guts that daddy tried to get her to eat!

Our jack-o-lantern! Morgan really wanted a happy jack-o-lantern face, and even though I  am usually against  carving these faces as opposed to something  like a ghost or a mickey or something, I think it came out very well! Good job Morgan!

My sweet girls all ready for their halloween party with some of their friends. (well, mostly Morgan's friends)

Take note of the costume....the next day, when it came time to get dressed in our bumble bee costume for trick or treating, the tights decided to hide and we wound up doing a last minute costume change. 

My girls all ready to trick or treat!

Even though she wanted to be a bee, she was  also really happy about being a pumpkin! Thank goodness I dodged that bullet because it could have been a VERY long night if she hadn't taken to being a pumpkin!

Arrrrrgh! My beautiful pirate!

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Trick or treating with Mikayla's friend, Scarlett and her family this year since Daddy had class. 

Me and my girlies!

I know they aren't looking in this picture, but I love how Morgan's face is so "take charge."  Very  "alright, Mikayla, lets go this way." 

On their way to go seek out the candy!

And candy they found!!! SO excited!

Checking out her loot!

 Well, we went out early, a little after 6, being that it was a monday evening and Morgan had school the next day, and we were home by about 7. I got them each a couple pieces of candy and then got them ready to take showers and head to bed. However, just before I turned the water on, Michael called and said he was leaving class and said he wanted to trick or treat with his girls, so back on went the costumes and they were given a few more pieces of candy while we waited for him to get home! Just after 8, we were back out going around our neighborhood. Literally, we were the last trick or treaters out and called it a night at about a quarter til 9! But seriously, those girls came home with SO much candy! There is no way they can eat that much, so I may have to "help" just a smidge....or maybe I already have....maybe. ;)

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The baby and I in a shirt I had made just for this occasion! In case you can't read it, it says "My lil pumpkin!" I love it and wore it a few times this season. :) 

I tried to get a belly shot (at 34 weeks) but Daddy is NOT the best photographer! Hopefully this gets the idea across. 

Okay, so I always was so envious of those people who had the chance to paint their bellies like pumpkins as I never had that chance with the other two girls being that I never knew I was pregnant in October! So with this pregnancy, I was super excited the whole time to be able to do this! Don't ask me why, but it was something very fun for me and Morgan had fun helping me paint. I'm really glad I got the chance.

That was our Halloween 2011! Never again to be the same as next year I will have a 10 or 11 month old, a three year old, and a six year old girl in tow. Wow, this is definitely getting real now! Our family is about to change in a huge way, and I'm so excited, but VERY nervous! Time to go break into that candy...don't tell the girls!